Video: N.Y. Officer Pleads with Knife-Wielding Man in Shooting

By Maki Becker

Source The Buffalo News, N.Y.

Editor's note: Graphic content. Includes scenes of violence and profanity.

The Buffalo police officers who shot a man armed with a knife and having a mental health crisis early Monday morning pleaded with him "approximately 35 times" in an attempt to de-escalate the situation before opening fire and wounding him, video from a body-worn camera of one of the officers showed, Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said Wednesday.

"They said it in a calm tone. Nobody was screaming at him. Nobody yelling," Gramaglia told reporters after the 3 minute 44 second body cam video was distributed to the media.

"They tried everything they could. I don't know what you could have done differently. It appears he had one thing on his mind," Gramaglia said.

The video is graphic and includes the shooting, as well as some profanity.

The footage is from a body cam worn by Officer Michael Ramos, who has been an officer for two years. In the video, voices can be heard, but it is not clear who is saying what.

He and Officer Phillip Edwards, on the force for seven years, discharged their weapons during the encounter. Both are on paid administrative leave as investigations are conducted into the incident.

The man who was shot, Dominique Thomas, 30, of Buffalo, remains hospitalized in Erie County Medical Center.

The officers were working the midnight shift out of the Northwest District (D District) when they were dispatched to a call about 4:30 a.m. Gramaglia said Wednesday that the officers were told by dispatchers that the caller said someone was trying to kill him.

"They were going there on a threat call. They did not go there with the advantage of knowing it was a mental health call," Gramaglia said. About a week earlier, Thomas had called police and asked them to take him to ECMC for psychiatric treatment, police previously said.

The video clip begins as two officers are seen at the bottom of a set of stairs in a multi-unit dwelling at 1945 Hertel Ave.

The officers are standing with their arms down and looking up the stairs.

"What can we do for you?" a police officer says calmly. "Are you OK?"

"Huh?" a voice is heard saying softly.

"Are you OK?" the officer repeats.

"No, I'm not," the voice at the top of the stairs says.

"OK, so what happened?" a different police officer asks.

"How can we make you OK?" the first officer says.

Ramos walks over directly to the foot of the stairs next to Edwards, who quietly says: "He's got a knife in his pocket, just so you know."

Thomas can be seen at the landing, half a story up the stairs. He's wearing dark sweatpants and sneakers. His face has been blurred in the video.

"You got a knife in your pocket? Yup. Put that down," a voice that appears to be that of Ramos says.

Thomas pulls the knife out of his right pants pocket, holds it with two hands and then holds it near his side with his left hand.

"Put that down," an officer says.

"Yo, put that down, big dog," another says.

"Let's go outside," one officer says, and they quickly walk down the stairs toward the main entrance of the building.

The video shows four officers outside the building. They walk down a snow-covered walkway away from the building and continue to tell Thomas to "put the knife down."

Thomas follows them outside.

"Put it down," several officers can be heard saying.

"There ain't no reason for it," one says.

Thomas, standing in front of the closed door of the building, lifts the knife up and then lowers it to his side.

"Put it down," the officers continue to urge.

Thomas again walks toward the officers.

"We can help you with whatever you're going through. It ain't even no big deal," an officer says.

"Come on buddy," another officer says.

"Let us help you," Ramos can be heard saying. "... What's going on? If there's something we can talk about, let's talk about it. Put the knife down. Let's talk."

Thomas takes a few steps toward the officers, who have now backed away, down a set of steps and on the sidewalk. Ramos' arms can be seen outstretched, holding his gun.

"Move, move," officers say to each other as they back away on to the street. Ramos' video shows a second officer holding a gun toward Thomas.

"Stop!" the officers can be heard saying more firmly.

"You do not want this," one officer says.

"Put it down!" they yell. "Talk to us."

Thomas walks toward them into the street, the knife at his side.

"No, we don't want to do that," an officer says.

"Put it down!" Ramos says.

An officer with a flashlight can be seen moving into the street.

"Someone put a light down," Ramos says.

Thomas walks a few steps and stops as he gets to the street, and then suddenly runs forward.

Ramos can be seen firing multiple shots. Other shots can be heard. Thomas falls. The knife falls from his hand.

"Shots fired," Ramos says into his radio.

Yelling can be heard.

The lights and sirens of a patrol car approach, and one of the officers runs toward it. "Slow car! Slow car!" he yells. The car comes to a stop.

"Why?" Edwards screams. "Why, man? What the (expletive) ... Damn! Why?"

An officer orders Ramos into the back of a car. Someone can be heard saying something about the knife.

Edwards takes his ski hat off and slams the back of a patrol car with it.

"Calm down, bud," one officer says.

"Get in the car," an officer says to Ramos and Edwards.

During the encounter, and before the shooting, one of the officers at the scene called for an ambulance to take Thomas to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. Gramaglia said it was already on the way when the officers opened fire.

He said it is possible that less lethal weapons such as a Taser or a BolaWrap that can shoot a lasso-like device around a person could have helped.

The Buffalo Police Department is training its officers in how to use Tasers and equipping them with the device.

Gramaglia said the department wanted to get some body-cam footage out to the public "in a timely fashion."

He called the value of having the body-cam footage "immeasurable."

He said that the video showed the officers did what they are trained to do to try to de-escalate situations. That confirms what the officers' attorney, Thomas H. Burton, told the Buffalo News on Tuesday about what happened.

"I hate to say it was the right thing," Gramaglia said, because, in the end, a shooting occurred. "It was a tragic outcome for everybody. It was tragic for the officers. It was tragic for Mr. Thomas."

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